Epic Change, Cause Marketing on the Social Web

Interview with Stacey Monk. Founder, CEO of Epic Change.

If you’re not familiar with this story, get ready for some goose bumps. In addition to warming your heart, this story is a great example of cause marketing with many valuable lessons for marketers.

Epic Change is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization founded by Stacey Monk and Sanjay Patel. They help social entrepreneurs who are change makers share their stories to get funded for a charitable cause. Their current project is partnered with (change maker) Mama Lucy in Tanzania to build school classrooms in the Arusha district of Tanzania, Africa. First, a little background on Stacey Monk (herself an impressive change maker).

A Life Changing  Trip

Stacey always had the inspiration to work in the non profit sector. After graduating from college, she needed to repay student loans so she joined the workforce as a management consultant working in change management. She consulted for businesses and public sector clients on this discipline.  In 2007 Stacy took a life changing trip to Africa where she volunteered at Mama Lucy’s Shepherd’s Junior school. When Stacey returned to her consulting practice, she learned that the landlord sold the land that Mama Lucy’s school was on. That motivated Stacey to act on her life long dream of working in the non profit sector. She and Sanjay founded Epic Change and took on Mama Lucy’s school as their first project.

Using the Social Web to Raise Funds

Epic Change adopted social media out of the gate as a way to reach people for donations through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. They had a zero dollar budget. Stacey started using Twitter without any idea why. She connected with interesting people around the world which couldn’t have otherwise happened. One of those people is Sam Lawrence who has a popular blog called Go Big Always.  One day Sam said he didn’t feel like writing a blog post. Stacey volunteered to write it for him. She knew that Sam has a large following.  So, Stacey wrote a guest blog post about how she is going big to build classrooms in Tanzania through her non profit Epic Change. Sam shared that blog post on Twitter and it wound up reaching hundreds of new followers. It quickly struck Stacey how she could reach many influential people through Twitter and blogging.

That experience was a huge light bulb. Stacey figured out the power of the social web by connecting with influential people who can spread the word. Stacey’s connection to Sam Lawrence was game changing. His network turned out to be a huge door opener for Epic Change even though Stacey didn’t have a personal connection with Sam. Many new donors and new relationships came from that one connection with Sam Lawrence.

TweetsGiving 2008

Stacey started spending more time on Twitter as a result of her “going big” blog post and her new found connections on Twitter. This inspired Stacey to create a fund raising event called Tweetsgiving. Avi Kaplan, a new friend she met on Twitter, wrote a touching blog post thanking her for mentor-ship and passion for giving.  She was moved by his gratitude. So, Stacey invited the Twitter community to participate to show their gratitude. She asked influential bloggers like Jeff Pulver and Chris Brogan to invite people to give thanks for whatever they were grateful for and invited them to donate to TweetsGiving. The TweetsGiving event took place over just two days preceding Thanksgiving 2008. The goal was to raise $10,000. Over $11,000 was raised in just two days! TweetsGiving alone enabled Epic Change to build a classroom for Mama Lucy’s school in Tanzania.

TweetsGiving Success Factors

Why was TweetsGiving so successful? One reason is clearly stating the financial goal of $10,000 and stating what the money would be used for (to build a classroom). The call to action was to donate $10 for one brick. All the donators are listed on the wall of gratitude in the school.  The wall of gratitude was painted by local artists.  It reads: “This classroom was built from gratitude…Thank you!” All the donors are listed by their Twitter handle as shown in the picture below (that’s my Twitter name in the callout).  The entire classroom is enveloped by the wall of gratitude.

Five classrooms have been built as of this writing. And over $75,000 has been invested to secure land, a school bus, install flushable toilets and implement solar power. Over 300 children are now attending the Shepherd’s Junior school under Mama Lucy, which is triple the size since the beginning of the project! Equally important, this model is now proven which allows it to scale. Mama Lucy has also been certified now in national exams. Her school recently scored #1 out of 117 schools in their district in Arusha, Tanzania!

Building a Technology Lab is Next

An online vote has been mobilized to build a technology lab. Twitter people got involved in the voting along with the local people in Tanzania by going to internet cafes in town to cast their vote to get the funds for the technology lab. For many of them it was their first experience using the internet and they got to use it to vote to get more resources for their local community. On Stacey’s next trip they will teach people how to use the internet. The local people in Tanzania will also get to participate in TweetsGiving 2009.

TweetsGiving 2009

I asked Stacey about plans for TweetsGiving 2009. She was not ready to announce the financial goal when I conducted this interview. But, I’m sure we’ll learn about it very soon. She assured me the goal will be bigger than the 2008 goal. And, I have no doubt it will be exceeded once again.

Experiment that Paid Off

Stacey Monk’s story has so many inspirational lessons for us as humans and as vocational marketers. The main lesson I want to emphasize for marketers is to be willing to experiment. When Stacey launched TweetsGiving 2008 she didn’t know what to expect and she wound up exceeding her goal. She reached out and engaged influential people who helped her exponentially reach many more people. Stacey also produced content every step of the way. Her most successful content was user generated content, especially content that is produced in Tanzania in the way of photos and video.

Inspiration to Others

Many others have been inspired by Epic Change including me. I wrote a story about Epic Change in my book, Marketing 2.0.  Shel Israel has also covered Epic Change in his book, Twitterviille. Stacey was invited to speak at South by Southwest Conference where she learned that others have been inspired by her as a result of TweetsGiving. Many are frequently reaching out to Stacey for advice on raising funds on the social web for a charitable cause.

Stacey’s Advice to Marketers

Stacey is very grateful for the attention she has received, not for self serving reasons, but rather for the positive impact it’s having on Epic Change. Stacey advises marketers to consider partnering with charitable causes to make a difference. Along the way, you can reach influential people who align with the charitable cause. When for-profit businesses adopt a cause marketing mindset there are several winners. One of them can be the marketer. But, the biggest winner is the cause.

Thanks for advice Stacey!  I can’t wait to hear about TweetsGiving 2009.

How Broad is Your Footprint on the Web?

Create a Broad Footprint on the Web to be Found the way Buyers Search

The first decade of the new millennium is almost over. As I look at the history of marketing on the web over the past two decades I make these big picture observations, which I discuss in my book, Marketing 2.0.

1990 to 2000 – Most businesses developed their first website. Websites were a one way communication medium from the seller to the buyer. Most businesses had little understanding of organic search engine optimization or pay-per-click advertising to “be found” by buyers.  Websites served mostly as an online company brochure. The strategic value of corporate websites was generally low for most businesses.

2000 to 2010 – Most businesses evolved through their second or third generation websites. Strategic value of corporate websites skyrocketed as 24/7 marketing/selling was recognized. Marketing efforts to be found through SEO and paid search marketing have become prominent among businesses of all sizes. Job descriptions and job titles in some marketing organizations include words like “Internet,” “digital,” “online,” “community.”

The Broad Web Footprint

But, there is one aspect of marketing that is not yet mainstream save a few hundred (maybe a few thousand) companies around the world. To be found by buyers, you must create a broad footprint on the web with diverse content. Since there is still one more year and a half left in the decade, there is still time for sellers to jump on this band wagon.

I want to be found by anyone, anywhere in the world, even though I primarily market in U.S. and Canada. And, I certainly DONT’ want to limit where I’m found to Google or Bing or Yahoo (or any search engine).

Sure, being found in Google through organic SEO is very important to me and most businesses. And, pay-per-click advertising (aka SEM), is a terrific way to be found, as long as you’re using best practices.

But, most marketers still think being found on the web means being found in a search engine either in an organic listing, or in a paid (sponsored) listing (PPC). This is a limited view of effective inbound marketing on the web.

Buyers Buy Differently Than They Did Last Decade

I was contacted by a prospective buyer recently. When I asked him how he “found” us his answer was music to my ears. He didn’t remember exactly where he found me. He told me that during the previous week he visited my website, my blog and listened to one of my podcasts. By the time he contacted me, he already had considerable insight into me and my inbound marketing agency. He was ready to speak with me. He was ready to make a buying decision. He had consumed my content long before he called me.

Search Engine Results are Evoloving

The way search engines deliver search results is changing. Google is providing multiple forms of content through “options”.

Bing’s search results are still pretty traditional with links at the top for other content search results:

Kosmix delivers diverse search results. It’s my prediction that before the close of this decade, Kosmix’ search results model will be the norm. Note the prominent display of search result options: Media; News & Blogs; Reviews & Guides; Shopping; Web Search.

The social web has created a conglomeration of platforms where marketers can be found. Buyers are searching for information and finding diverse options of content across many social media platforms. Along the way buyers get influenced by  what others say about sellers.  Sellers who want to compete in the second decade of new millennium must be prepared to have a strong presence with great content across many relevant web platforms. Sellers must build trust and engage relevant communities there with a broad footprint.

Will SEO and PPC become less prominent as methods for being found in the near future? Probably not. I submit the definition of SEO and PPC is evolving. The influence is shifting to buyers. They are the ones who decide whether to contact you based on how effectively you create a broad footprint on the web.

How broad is your footprint on the web?

@berniebay

What Do Social Media and Christmas Have in Common?

Sharing…

Why beat around the bush? The Christmas holiday season is a time to share and give. And, isn’t that one aspect of social media that we all enjoy?

The most prolific social media people are always sharing. They share their thoughts, their expertise, links to great content and their time. When Christmas time rolls around isn’t it natural for those of us who actively use social media to also share with those who don’t have our good fortunes?

In this blog post I want to recognize three recent examples of social media people who are setting an example. The reason I’m singling them out is because there are probably many others out there and I want others who know them to recognize them by adding them to the comments area.

The reason I want to recognize them is partially to give them thanks. But, mostly I want to use them as inspirational examples. We know the social power of the web. We use the social web to connect and to market ourselves. We regularly share links to content. Let’s use these links as inspirations and personal challenges to do great things for needy people.

As the world around us reels from economic hardships among other hardships, each of us can do something to help others. No matter how small, every little bit is a help to someone.

Let’s look at these examples for inspiration:

Your Donations Really Made a Difference: A few days ago Chris Brogan raised $1,200 in donations by putting out a challenge to his Twitter followers to make a difference. Chris is adding $700 of his own money to buy “really big” toys for underprivileged kids. Chris humbly says “You did this…You made it possible for me to pick up several carts full of toys” as he gives credit to his friends on the social web. Way to go Chris for showing leadership and caring!

A month ago Epic Change a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization run by Stacey Monk ran a two day donation campaign in the 48 hours preceding Thanksgiving. Stacey assembled a group of volunteers to organize Tweetsgiving. This event raised more than $10,000 to build a school building in Tanzania. Way to go Stacey for boldly blazing a new trail on Twitter!

In October, JD Rucker wrote a blog post: With Great Social Media Power Comes Great Responsibility. JD is calling on the companies in social media and their executives to give back to the needy.

I don’t want to give you the impression that I believe you aren’t already generous with your giving. I merely want to point out the power of social media. No disrespect to Chris Brogan, Stacey Monk or JD Rucker, but you don’t have to be Bill Gates to make a difference.

Rather than sit by, these people just to name three, are stepping out and taking action. They are inspiring all of us to take action.

Last week I provided pro bono social media strategy advice to Meet the Need a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. After that experience I was inspired to do more of it. I will stay close to Meet the Need because it can reach so many people and because I’m in a position to help.

This time of year calls more attention to the needy. My challenge to all my friends on the social web is to share and give of yourself all year long.

I invite you to offer your comments and tell us who else you know on the social web that is taking action to share with the needy.

@berniebay

Should SEO Become SO?

I recently blogged about SEO becoming SMO. Call me fickle but in this podcast I suggest that SEO should become SO (search optimization). Whichever acronym you prefer, this is a healthy debate.

The demand for SEO services is at an all time high. A recent survey from B2B Online survey says that nearly one third of B2B marketers will spend more on marketing in 2009. 42% will remain unchanged in their marketing budgets. 62% said customer acquisition was their highest priority. The highest increase in marketing budget allocation in 2009 is going to online activities including search (50%) and social media (46%).

Given this trend of “search” and “social media” why do we still call search “SEO?” The answer is simple. It’s an entrenched term. Have you ever noticed that when a musician has a new release it’s still called a new album? But, it’s not an album, it’s a CD. The point is obvious. Some old terms just don’t die.

The point in this podcast is we should consider pulling “engine” out of search optimization. Searching on the web is no longer the sole domain of search engines. Buyers have the easy ability to visit all kinds of sources on the web to find information.

People who search on the web are still finding information from search engines as well as from other sources such as Technorati, Blogsearch.Google, DIGG, Stumbleupon, Slideshare even Twitter as well as vertical industry web destinations with blogs and other links to credible sources of information.

A related factor to this trend is the “social” culture of the social web. Users create content and express opinions about products and services. These contents and opinions shape buyer’s opinions and their decisions as they get shared prolifically on the social web. The interaction that occurs on the social web is dynamic compared to a search engine result.

I don’t expect SEO as we know it to dramatically change tomorrow. But, there are changes coming from Google in 2009. They recognize the shift in content on the social web and will display results of all kinds, not just websites. The websites with rich media will get the best results in Google and other search engines.

You could say that Google doesn’t just view their competitors as Yahoo! and Microsoft. They understand that people can get answers to their searches from many other sources on the web. So, like the old cliche goes rather than fight it they are joining the movement.

The point of this podcast theme: SEO becomes SO is that buyers are looking for information on the web, not only in search engines. Buyers get their information from various sources on the web. The culture or mindset of searching on the web has shifted and will continue to shift.

Have a listen to this podcast. Do you think I’ll get on Larry King or Anderson Cooper talk shows due to my radical suggestion?

I’m sure you have an opinion on this topic. Many people do…Let’s hear your opinion below.

@berniebay

Top 5 Reasons Why the Hubspot Viral Video Rocks!

When Mike Volpe of Hubspot first mentioned on Twitter and on Hubspot TV that they were producing a “viral video” I couldn’t help but wonder: “What to do you mean Mike? A video is considered viral only after it goes viral. The people decided if it’s viral. You can’t just call it a viral video until it goes viral.”

I guess Mike has a crystal ball. Here are the top five reasons why the Hubspot viral video rocks!

5) The people in the video are real Hubspot employees. There is not one paid actor in the video. The whole production was done in-house. It’s authentic, not Hollywood.

4) It’s hilarious. When the team popped up from their desks to play instruments to accompany the lead singer, I laughed. Come to think of it, I laughed through most of the video. Humor is always one of the best characteristics of a viral video.

3) The Hubspot team did a great job spreading the word about the upcoming video through Twitter, their blog, Hubspot TV and webinars for weeks prior to the event. They created anticipation for the video. When they launched it on the 8th, they likewise spread the word through online chatter.

2) The video has intensity to it. In the opening scene when the boss (Mike Volpe) slams down a command to the cold caller, the mood is set for the video. Throughout the rest of the video the intensity and the action is high. I can really feel the frustration from the lead character in the video. She is passionate about her disdain for cold calling and her desire for inbound marketing leads.

1) It speaks truth. The message focuses on bringing leads to the sales team using SEO, SEM, blogs, Twitter, RSS enabled content and other forms of great content on the social web. This is the absolute truth!

One more reason this video rocks. It ranks #1 in YouTube for the keyword “marketing.”

I guess Mike Volpe knew all along this video would go viral. I suppose the sales staff at Hubspot is pretty busy handling all the new sales leads. Way to go Hubspot!

If you haven’t seen the video, here it is…

SEO Becoming SMO

I argue that SEO is becoming social media optimization (SMO). We devote a lot of attention to details to gain high rankings in search engines. Of course, this process is known as organic search engine optimization. But, when people search on a keyword in a search engine are all the search results limited to web pages? No!

A new organic SMO strategy is all about being found on the web by people who want your products or services. It’s great to be found by people doing a Google search. But, I don’t want to limit relevant traffic to my website only to those doing a Google search. I also want people to visit my website who are engaged in online conversations on the social web and visit it simply because of a referral by someone or a link from interesting content on the social web.

When I study my website analytics over the past 30 days I see the top referral source is Google organic, followed by a recent link building blog post on Hubspot and referrals from Twitter and Facebook.

How do I work at organic SEO? I still focus on relevant content and all the SEO basics pertaining to search engine friendly website architecture and organic link building strategies. These SEO fundamentals help get Google rankings which are still very important and very desirable.

But, as evidenced above Google is not the only valid referral source of traffic to my website.

When I find good content on the web I share it with others. On average for every 10 links to good content that I share, 9 of them are links to interesting articles from social media industry experts such as Hubspot, Lee Odden, Andy Beal, Paul Dunay and Chris Brogan among others. About 1 out of 10 links that I share are to my own blog posts because I sincerely believe that I provide interesting content too. I can say this with humility based on comments received from people on the social web.

The point I’m making is that organic optimization on the web is not limited to being found in search engines. Marketers who focus all their attention to being found in Google are potentially limiting their traffic.

This is more true in some industries than others. But, in most industries you’ll find people having online conversations, sharing links to content and generally engaged in communities on the social web. If your organic web strategy includes being engaged and found by these communities then it qualifies as a social media optimization (SMO) strategy.

So what’s your organic web strategy?

Marketing 2.0 What Does it Mean?

This podcast is a brief introduction to Bernie Borges’ forthcoming book: Marketing 2.0: Bridging the Gap Between Seller and Buyer. Targeted publish date April 2009.

So, what exactly do I mean by Marketing 2.0?

Marketing 2.0 is a play on words on which parallels Web 2.0. As you know Web 2.0 allows for an interactive experience on a web site (blog, social network, podcast, wiki, etc.)

In Marketing 1.0 we interrupt, we intrude, we disrupt our prospective buyers through various advertisements, direct mail, email messages and cold calls. Marketers have tried for decades in 1.0 to interrupt the buyer in hope of getting a message across with a call to action. Then, if we get a 1% response to our interruptive marketing, we think we’re doing well!

Some forms of Marketing 1.0 can be effective, such as advertising on the side of a shuttle bus at a convention to a targeted audience. Or, some banner advertising can be effective in a very niche industry website. If you are a supplier in a narrow niche and there are good niche portals in your industry this can be an effective marketing strategy.

But even effective 1.0 marketing should be supported with 2.0 strategies comprised of great content on blogs, podcasts and other social web platforms where you can engage in two way conversations.

Marketing 2.0 shifts all the power to the consumer (the buyer). It’s a paradigm shift. I argue it’s even a mindset shift. The power is no longer in the hands of the marketer. The buyer has the ability to engage in conversations on the web with others who share common interests to learn, research and hear from others about products and services of interest. The buyer can learn about a company whose product is being considered, the industry trends, employees, the people of influence, etc. Before a buyer makes a purchase decision he/she has an unparalleled ability to hear from others who have made a similar purchase decision.

Then, how can marketers influence buyers in a world of social interaction on the web?

Through a Marketing 2.0 mindset!

As marketers we have to be aware of this shift of power and engage our buyers in sincere and authentic conversations. A conversation is two way. We need to speak with, not talk (shout) at them.

In the old 1.0 world marketers blasted messages out. Marketing 2.0 is speaking with your buyer in conversations, getting engaged and listening to them.

For example I heard a story about how Paul Colligan was flying somewhere on a Southwest Airlines flight and his flight was canceled. He posted a comment on Twitter (his Twitter name is @colligan) about his frustration and when he eventually landed on the other side, Southwest Airlines had contacted him through the web (on Twitter) to say “we heard you and we want to make it right.” Kudos to Southwest Airlines for listening and taking action quickly! Paul Colligan then Tweeted about the positive reaction he got from Southwest Airlines. In the end, Southwest Airlines got good exposure for their swift action, not in the media but on the social web (which I argue is the new media but that’s the subject of a future blog post).

Too many people view the web as a one way communication experience. However, social media allows us to have two way communication through engagement. For example, if you have a comment to add about this podcast/blog post you can leave comments below.

All companies of all sizes have the opportunity to get engaged and listen to their prospective buyers using Marketing 2.0 strategies.

Are you using Marketing 2.0 strategies?

Bernie Borges
@berniebay

Social Media Lines are Blurring

This podcast is a discussion about a guest blog post I recently wrote on Hubspot entitled: The Lines are Blurring between Social Networks…Let Them!

As we spend time on social networks, blogs, Twitter, YouTube, etc., the lines are blurring between them.

As I’m sure you know there are three types of social media destination sites

Content Publishing sites – Blogs, YouTube, Twitter
Content Sharing – DIGG, Reddit, Mashable, etc.
Networking – Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc.

But, most of these are starting to cross over into each other. For example, people show their updates on social networks. LinkedIn and Facebook both have a “what are you working on now?” status which you can update or you can link to your Twitter account.

The social media lines are blurring….

Is Facebook just a social networking site? What is Twitter?

Twitter is a communication tool as evidenced by how many companies and non profits are using it including Apple, Jet Blue Airways, Zappos, Tampa Bay Red Cross, ABC Action News, etc. The list of enterprise Twitter users is growing every day.

Twitter allows you to have a mini-profile similar to social networks. It’s a very brief profile, nonetheless it has a similar characteristic to a social network profile, just shorter.

What about YouTube? What is it? It’s part social networking and part content sharing. Any business can create a channel in YouTube. It’s free. Just open your channel account, select the type of account you want. I like the “guru” account type for subject matter expertise. You can aggragate video content from any source including your own and any other video in YouTube. If you sell “blue suede shoes” provide a link to Elvis singing “blue suede shoes” video.

If you aggregate interesting video content, promote it to your following in Twitter and to your Facebook friends. So, is YouTube content sharing or social networking? You decide…

If I share ten new videos with you and only one or two of them are actually my videos, you’ll still give me credit for all the relevant videos I sent to you (assuming I’m sending you relevant video content). In this example, I would be a source of good video content, even if I didn’t create all of the videos.

The social media lines are blurring…

As marketers we need to harness all the content and all the platforms that are relevant to our communities. The social web platforms overlap with each other, but that’s ok. Let them. We can use them all.

I predict that in Web 3.0 the lines will be less blurry. We’ll be able to create a common profile that travels with us from platform to platform. This movement is already in progress called OpenSocial led by Google but it’s not ready for prime time yet. Just stay tuned on that…

In the meantime let’s enjoy the fact we can use Twitter as a social networking tool and a communication tool. Ditto for other social web platforms.

One of my favorite examples is the Twitter stream. By using a hashmark with your Tweets, e.g., #rays for Tampa Bay Rays, you can communicate in a real time stream to anyone (anywhere) that wants to follow that stream. I just returned from my favorite Internet marketing conference – Pubcon. People around the world who didn’t attend the conference were following along the comments made by more than half the attendees using the #pubcon Twitter stream.

The BusinessWeek cover story in May 2005 was focused on blogs in business. In the follow up story May 2008 the article discussed all the social platforms and said “the new resume is 140 characters” in a reference to how Twitter is a communication tool.

As marketers we can use all the social web tools to engage our buyers, our community, listen to them and build relationships with them without concern over whether you’re in a blog, social networking site, a media outlet or wherever you may be online.

The market place is busy and crowded. And, the social web opens up doors for conversations. Just get engaged in the conversations even if the lines are blurred. Let them…

Bernie Borges
http://twitter.com/berniebay